


In Which Black Badge is Hella Shady

by Anonymous



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: BBD is the main antagonist of the story, Black Badge Division, Clairvoyant!Jeremy, Empath!Jeremy, Gen, Government Experimentation, Human Experimentation, Jeremy wants to be held, Not Season 3 Compliant, POV Alternating, Sensory Deprivation, Touch-Starved, recovering from trauma
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-26
Updated: 2018-12-12
Packaged: 2019-07-14 21:11:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 11,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16048634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: When Black Badge takes Jeremy back in, their experimentation in pursuit of his powers does a lot of damage.  And keeping him permanently out of Black Badge's grasp is another matter entirely.





	1. In The Dark

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Takada_Saiko](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Takada_Saiko/gifts).



> This fic, for the first year of its existence, was submitted to Takada_Saiko over on tumblr, known simply as the BBD Fic. I've now decided to crosspost it here as well going forward. I will continue to post it on tumblr via submission to her. This just makes it much easier for new people to find the fic.

"When are you going to realize that nobody’s going to swoop in and save you?"

Jeremy flinched.

In the small, dark cell the voice seemed to come from everywhere and made his insides twist. He didn’t know how long he’d been in the dark now. His phone had died ages ago, not that he’d expected it to work in a sealed black badge cell. That was probably the only reason they’d let him keep it.

He leaned his head back against the wall in a futile attempt to find the speakers in the pitch blackness.  

He knew the chances of him outlasting black badge in this twisted method of torture were slim to none.  But the others had broken into a black badge facility before.  If he could hold out, then they could get to him before he broke down and agreed to something that could come back to hurt all of them.

* * *

 Jeremy pressed his palms to his eyes.  The colors that flashed behind his eyelids gave him some relief from the unbroken darkness.  It was wearing away at him, slowly breaking down his will to resist.

His arm twinged in discomfort, reminding him of the IV drip they’d hooked him up to, presumably feeding him necessary nutrients and fluids.  So black badge wanted him alive at least.  That was something.

* * *

The light was blinding when they came to talk to him again, and he flinched away from it, squinting at the person in front of him.

“Agent Chetri, you’re making this harder than it needs to be.”  Jeremy gave the agent a weak attempt at a glare.

“Am I?  You’re the one that wants to hack my brain!”

“Your… unique skills will be of great use to us.  Need we remind you are still under black badge jurisdiction?  We don’t take insubordination lightly.”

“Look, I don’t control what I sense, what I see?”

“We’ll handle that.”

* * *

He didn’t have much of a choice in the matter in the end.  The time in the cell had worn down his resistance in much more tangible ways than his mental stability.  Even in the best condition he’d never been good at combat, let alone against trained black badge agents. He kept his gaze down as they escorted him to whatever sort of experiment they wanted to run.

He wasn’t an idiot, he’d always known black badge had an interest in his clairvoyant tendencies.  They weren’t as strong as his mother’s, but Black Badge had been working on a way to harness it back when he’d first joined up.  They’d just never made a device successfully before. And he may have downplayed the ability and convinced them it was mostly dormant.

“Look, please don’t do this.”  His gaze flitted around anxiously, taking in the room they’d entered.  

“You don’t understand, okay, this kind of stuff is really, really delicate! If you go about this wrong you could fry my br- okay I'm moving..”  

He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to keep calm. But he couldn’t stop thinking about the stuff his mom had told him about his abilities.  Force them too far and your ability to tell the second sight from your reality could be completely shattered.

He stiffened as he was wrangled into a chair, some sort of device being attached around his head. -

“Oh god, can we just talk about this?  Please!” Not good not good, very very bad.

“Agent Chetri, relax, focus on what you can sense beyond the facility.”

“Relax?!  Do you- I'm sorry, you really think I can relax in this situation?”

“It would be in your best interest.”

“Best int-” He cut himself off, anxiety spiking as straps were put around his arms, leather cuffs around his wrists to keep him in place.

“These restraints don’t exactly instill confidence in me.”

“Frankly Agent Chetri, your confidence is not our concern.”  The agent turned to someone else, calling out, “Start up the machine.”

“Wait wait wait, no,”  He gasped as energy crackled to life, the distant awareness he usually tried to ignore rising to the forefront of his mind.  Too much, there was too much information washing over him and it wasn’t focused and it all passed by too quickly for him to understand it.   Emotions and glimpses of moments. His hands gripped the arms of his chair tightly, a ragged breath escaping him as he tried to tether himself in the tide of information.

Focus on one thing, focus on something in the overwhelming tide of information, focus focus focus.

Some of the images came into focus, the others becoming a distracting background noise.  But he could see his friends, he could see them. He couldn’t hear what they were discussing, but he could sense the worry and stress.  His head throbbed with the effort of focusing on the moment, senses fuzzing at the edges. Please please let them find me, was the last thing he thought before the strain the machine was putting on him dragged him under.

 


	2. Before BBD

_ Sometime earlier, before everything went wrong. _

_ - _

“Jeremy, step back over the line.”  He could see the tension in the revenant’s expression, hand slightly outstretched, halfway between a placating gesture and a threat.

“Black badge is coming, and you and I both know they’d jump at the chance to bring a revenant in.”  Jeremy gave a strained attempt at a smile. “You can’t be here when they get here.” The demon growled in frustration, stalking along the border of the triangle.  

“I will drag you back across this line if I need to kid.”  Jeremy stepped further back when Bobo raised his hand with intent, his own hand twitching toward his holster.

“Don’t. I’ll- I’ll shoot you.”  His voice was shaking as he drew his gun from it’s holster; distress written plainly across his face.  He winced as Bobo tried to use his powers to drag him back into the triangle, digging in his heels and shutting his eyes as he pulled the trigger. 

The recoil threw him back onto the ground like it always did, the green energy hitting Bobo, sending him reeling back too and breaking his concentration.  Jeremy scrambled hastily to his feet, putting more distance between the two of them. Not that it’d do too much good if Bobo really applied his powers. And oh no, that flash of red in his eyes was not encouraging.   “Look, please. Just go. Tell the others so they can find me.” 

Bobo looked ready to argue more as he drew himself back to his feet, but that was when the distant sound of vehicles approaching reached them.  And they really did not have time to argue anymore.

“Don't die,” the revenant said, before retreating toward the tree line. 

* * *

Bobo watched from the cover of the trees as the Black Badge vehicles pulled up around Jeremy, his inability to control the situation setting his teeth on edge.  He couldn’t interfere; it would only mean both of them being taken in. He’d already had that nearly happen once.

Still, his hands flexed at his side, itching to deal damage to the people surrounding their team’s scientist.  He couldn’t get a good read on Jeremy from this far away, but the fear that had been present in his expression before Bobo had retreated lingered in his mind’s eye.  Whatever intentions Black Badge had, they didn’t bode well for the kid’s safety. 

He watched as Jeremy threw his ray gun onto the grass, holding his hands up in a gesture of surrender.  The kid seemed to be talking to the lead agent. Good, at least the encounter didn’t appear to be violent in nature. Still it wasn’t long before Jeremy was escorted into the back of one of the vans.  Bobo waited until the vehicles were definitely away from the scene, then he went and retrieved Jeremy’s gun.


	3. Emotional Overload

When Jeremy woke up he was in the dark again, head throbbing angrily as he sat up.  What he wouldn’t give for some ibuprofen right now.

But as he hazily blinked in his surroundings, he realized whatever cell he was in was at least a bit nicer than where they’d been keeping him previously.  He was on some form of cot, hands absently exploring the rough texture beneath him.

A flicker just at the edge of his vision caught his eye, but as he turned he realized it couldn’t have possibly been real.  The room was too dark for him to properly make out anything.

He frowned, eyebrows drawing together.  There was a sense of triumph and purpose running through him, except it wasn’t his.  Dread that definitely was his shot like ice through his veins. Jeremy swallowed, sinking back down and groaning.

“Oh noooo, this isn’t happening.”  

He pressed his hands against his eyes, shuddering at the smothering feeling of other emotions coating the facility.

He imagined this might be kind of what sensory overload felt like, except it was emotions, the emotions of anyone near him in the facility, cloying and heavy, rising in a heady swirl in him that made no sense.  They didn’t mesh and it was making him feel overwhelmed.

Curling inward, he tried to remember that these emotions didn’t belong to him; to let them wash over and move past. But his mind was raw right now and it was hard to keep them separate.  He hoped it’d tone down once he had some time to recover. That was, if Black Badge gave him that at all.

* * *

 Jeremy shuddered as he stepped into the worn tile room.  It looked like it had been disused for years now, but that didn’t make it any less unsettling.  There were what seemed to be burn marks on the walls, and he swore some of the suspicious stains on the concrete floor were from blood.  Knowing black badge he probably wasn’t wrong.

The subbasements were a place he had never dared venture during his time with the organization, and he was already regretting his decision to now.

But he hadn't really had time to be picky when the power went down.  Whatever lock was on his room went down with it and who knew when he'd get another opportunity like that.

He'd ran, ran to the least populated part of the facility he could think of.  Except now he'd hit a dead end as far as he could tell. He wrapped his arms around himself, trying to ground himself as he felt the hope he'd dared to feel die.  God, he just wanted to be back with his friends. His control on his powers faded more and more every time that machine was used on him. 

They'd been working on how to control what he saw from their side.  That's what they'd said anyway. To him it just felt like they were driving a molten spike into his brain.

And they were going to try again and again and again.  He couldn't- His gaze flitted desperately around the room, but there wasn't any way out that he'd missed.

His nails bit into his arms as the optimism and hope he'd tried so hard to hold onto broke.  His jaw ached from how hard he was clenching his teeth together.

It had been too long, he wasn't sure quite how long, but surely if there'd been a way to track him they would have found him by now.  His shoulders tensed, a ragged sob clawing its way out of him.


	4. Rescue

The world refused to settle into one image, instead a glitched out overlay of too many moments, like something that had been filmed over.  His head felt like it was going to explode, the pressure maddening, and he wanted it to stop, for all of it to stop.  He’d take being in that pitch black cell over this.

Squeezing his eyes shut, a choked sob escaped him.  Closing his eyes didn't help, it barely lessened the dizzying influx of information.  Something was happening, the images were fragmented and combined, but they were more urgent than what he usually got from the facility.  

He just couldn't focus and it hurt.  He hid his face against his knees, just trying to weather the images.

And then there was someone holding his hand, the pressure very real, solid and comforting.  He clung to the person.

“Jeremy, can you hear me?”  He knew that voice! His eyes flew open to try and look at the source, wincing as his vision swam with overlapping images.  Too many, so many. But focusing, amidst all the images, he could just make out Dolls.  He'd never been so happy to see someone in his life.  

A trembling smile crossed his face, as he replied, “Oh thank god. I- yes.”

“We don't have a lot of time.  We have to move okay?” 

“Right ya...”  It was hard to focus on Dolls, but he was trying, really he was.  He moved to his feet, swaying dangerously as the world spun, the pain in his head spiking.  His breathing hitched. “I can do this, I can-” he murmured to himself, free hand grabbing onto Dolls’ arm.

“Whoa whoa, hey, easy there,” Dolls said, steadying him.

“My head…”  Jeremy whimpered, hoping Dolls would understand.  He couldn’t think straight, words…

“Okay, it’s going to be okay.  I’m going to carry you alright?”  Jeremy nodded in acknowledgement, eyes closing again.  It was harder than he’d expected to release Dolls’ hand, but he reluctantly managed it as Dolls drew it away so he could lift him into his arms.  

He hid his face against Dolls’ shoulder.

* * *

The overlaying images faded when they got away from the Black Badge facility, the empty stretch of road clearing his head.  A gentle ebb and flow of the emotions of those around him replaced the overwhelming images and thoughts that had been inundating his own. It was mostly a mix of concern, relief, and protectiveness.  

Jeremy started to untense, finally getting a better sense of who was actually here. 

One of his hands was still loosely gripping onto Dolls’ sleeve.  He hadn’t been able to focus enough through the pain in his head when he’d first been put in the car, but now he was aware enough to realize his head was resting on Waverly’s shoulder, her fingers gently petting his hair.  The sensation was soft, sending pleasant tingles along his scalp. It was a welcome relief after the pain that had become a near constant lately. 

Shifting slightly he could see Wynonna in the driver’s seat, some of her dark hair spilling over the back of it.  

Doc was in the passenger seat, his hat registering in Jeremy’s peripheral vision.

Emotion that was definitely his own swelled in his chest as it hit him that he was actually out of there.  He was out of there and surrounded by people that cared about him. And that machine, that god forsaken machine wasn’t going to be used on him again.

Tears pricked at his eyes, and he didn’t try to stop them.  A vague thought about the science behind emotional tears flitted across his mind, out of place amidst everything else, and something halfway between a sob and a laugh escaped him. And then the tears started falling in earnest.


	5. Reprieve

“Where does he even live?”  Wynonna asked as they walked into the homestead.  

“You know what, nevermind, we can settle him on the couch for now.”  

Jeremy had fallen asleep at some point during their drive back and none of them had wanted to wake him, so Dolls was carrying him again.  Jeremy hadn’t relinquished his hold on the marshal since they’d rescued him as far as Wynonna could tell. But his expression was peaceful now at least, even if you could still see the dried tear tracks on his face.

God, she knew Black Badge did some pretty messed up stuff; just what had they been doing to him in there?  He hadn’t said anything on the drive, and if there was one thing Wynonna had learned about Jeremy, it was that when he stopped talking was when to really get worried.

Waverly slipped past them, adjusting the pillows on the couch.   

“He’s going to be okay right?” She asked, fluffing one of the pillows to burn off some nervous energy. 

Wynonna didn’t miss the concerned frown that crossed Dolls’ face as his gaze dropped down to their sleeping scientist.  The pause before he replied stretched just a bit too long for comfort.

“We won’t know for sure how much damage they did until he wakes up again. Hopefully, with some time...”  Dolls’ started settling Jeremy on the couch, only glancing away when Doc appeared at his shoulder with a blanket in hand. Dolls’ stepped to the side, letting Doc tuck the kid in.

However he didn’t manage to shift very far.  Jeremy’s grip tightened on him when he tried to draw back, expression filling with distress. Dolls’ voice fell to a softer tone.

“Hey, we’re not going anywhere alright?”  He settled his hand on Jeremy’s, gently coaxing him to shift his grip.  Jeremy’s expression smoothed out, grip shifting to Dolls’ hand.

“I hope you’re aware you’re not getting that hand back anytime soon,”  Doc said, but there was a fond glint in his eyes.


	6. Tide of Emotion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo, Jeremy is not adjusting back well.

Jeremy knew the others were worried about him; a thousand things made it obvious.  From the current of their emotion he felt around him, to Dolls offering to listen if he needed to talk about what had happened, and the way Waverly had become more casually touchy with him.  

It wasn’t that he didn’t appreciate it, he did.  But until he had some distance the last thing he wanted to do was talk about it.  

Doc and Wynonna had tried to get him to drink with them.  He understood the sentiment they were going for, but who knew what he’d do drunk with his powers as high as they were.  Sure it might take the edge off, but it might also make him lose track of whose feelings were whose.  He had enough trouble grounding himself in reality right now without alcohol.

Not that he’d explained the empathic powers to them.  He was pretty sure Dolls knew, but the rest only knew about his “visions”; not the most accurate wording, but it would do.  But just- how do you go about telling your friends that you can feel their emotions?  There had to be some sort of ethical dilemma there, even given his powers were too raw right now to pinpoint exactly which emotions were coming from who.  

He’d stayed at the homestead for the first two days, he thought it was two days anyway.  One of them was always there with him.  Maybe they expected Black Badge to come after them?  Honestly, he definitely expected it.  The thought alone terrified him, but it would make sense and it lingered at the back of his mind, not letting him relax fully and feel safe.  

Still, the fact that there usually weren’t any more than five people near him at once helped.  His powers couldn’t completely overload him this way.  Of course he knew he couldn’t stay there forever, but he’d hoped his powers would start toning down.  He was realizing that if they did, it was going to take more time.  

He convinced them to take him back to his own apartment the third day.  His own place was hard to deal with.   He lived in a more populated area, and the clamoring pulse of information that wrapped around his brain made his head start aching again.  

Waverly stayed with him at first, a comforting and grounding presence that helped him ignore the flickers at the edge of his vision.  

But something came up, he presumed something supernatural like it usually was with them, so he convinced her he’d be fine by himself there until they dealt with it.  He’d been wrong, going home at all had been a bad idea.  He’d been able to at least try and ignore the emotions and images clouding everything when he had Waverly there to focus on.    

But now it was getting harder and harder to keep everything straight again.  Frustrated, Jeremy grabbed his headphones and coat.  He needed to walk, he didn’t know where.  After being locked in a cell he needed to move, to just wander.  It was a bad idea, but he didn’t care.  The longer he was around people the more his head throbbed at him.  

Shoving his headphones on, he turned the music louder than the recommended volume.  

Music was sorta like his powers, it was loud and emotional and wrapped around you and gave you glimpses of moments.  It coated all the other thoughts clouding his head, not exactly helping, but cathartic anyway.  

His vision was doing the glitchy thing again as he hurried down the sidewalk.  He was barely paying enough attention to anything, real or second sight, that crossed his vision and just prayed he didn’t walk into anyone.  He let his feet move on autopilot, mercifully managing to avoid bumping into many people through his overloaded vision.

He didn’t realize where he was going until he found himself walking into the headquarters space the team used.  He hadn’t been back since being rescued, and he knew there were any number of reasons for that but he couldn’t think.  

God his head hurt.  He couldn’t even focus on his music anymore, hands clumsily gripping the edge of his desk.  A strangled whimper of pain escaped him, grip on the desk tight enough his fingertips ached.

He startled when his headphones were removed suddenly, breath catching as he tried to focus on whoever had done it.  It was hard to see, but he could hear a low voice talking to him and he managed to pick out his name amidst the words.  

He shut his eyes against the images.  

The voice was familiar, he was pretty sure it was safe.  He needed to explain, he needed to…  He struggled to form words.

“People, I can’t-”  He swallowed, brows drawing together.  “Too much, need to-”

Fingers pried his grip loose from his desk, and any other words flew out of his head as he felt his feet leave the ground.  The person holding him felt soft, and that meant something, he knew it did, it meant someone in particular, but he couldn’t focus.  He let his head fall against the person desperately hoping they’d take him away from people.

* * *

The music coming from the headphones was loud enough Bobo noticed immediately when Jeremy stumbled into the room; and it didn’t take a genius to tell the kid wasn’t fully present.  His gaze was glazed and unfocused, face scrunched in pain as he braced himself on the edge of his desk.  

The demon hopped down from where he’d been perched, making his way over to the young scientist.  He hadn’t seen him since the others had brought him back, but clearly whatever Black Badge had done had messed him up pretty badly.  

He hadn’t even noticed his approach, so the demon snatched the headphones off the kid’s head, throwing them unceremoniously on the desk.  The music cut off abruptly as the cord became disconnected.

Jeremy startled back, breath catching as he looked apprehensively in his general direction.  But his eyes still didn’t focus, so the revenant guessed he couldn’t see him through whatever was happening in his head.  Bobo frowned, pitching his voice low.

“Alright, easy now.  Can you hear me Jeremy?” The kid seemed to recognize his name at least, untensing minutely.   But moments later he shut his eyes, eyebrows furrowing in discomfort.

Bobo watched him cautiously, trying to gauge how to handle the situation.

“People, I can’t-” The words were clipped and strained and Jeremy paused for a moment, seeming to struggle to articulate what he wanted to say.  “Too much, need to-”

Something clicked into place for the revenant.  He vaguely recalled Dolls throwing around the idea that Jeremy might be suffering from some sort of psychic overload.  The kid couldn’t be around a lot of people.  

Growling softly, he gently worked the kid’s grip free from the desk, watching as he seemed to struggle to maintain his center of gravity, swaying slightly on the spot.  He wasn’t going to be able to go anywhere himself.

Well then…  After a moment of consideration, the demon picked the scientist up, noting with concern that he seemed a bit lighter than before.

Apparently black badge didn’t care much about whether their lab subjects were healthy, so long as they were still alive.  Anger flared in the demon; that organization had always been trouble since as far back as he could remember.  The kid let his head fall heavily against his chest, drawing his mind away from the dark thoughts.

After taking a moment to make sure he had a secure hold of him, Bobo hurried out of the office, glaring at anyone who dared look like they were going to question him about why he was carrying a near unconscious scientist.

* * *

Jeremy slowly relaxed as he started to be able to hear his own thoughts again, the intrusive rush of information fading away.  He didn’t remember much about what had happened; he’d walked to the team’s office, then…. Everything had gotten a bit too much, but there’d been someone hadn’t there?

Most emotional interference was fading from his mind, letting his other senses come back to him. There was a gentle consistent motion and it took him a moment to realize that someone was carrying him, walking at a constant pace.   He could feel the gentle brush of something soft against his face, fur.

Fur coat.  Oh…  Well, he knew who was carrying him at least.

Nice going Jeremy, could you be anymore damsel in distress right now?  His face heated up and he was glad it was hidden against Bobo’s coat.

He could feel the demon’s emotions around him as clearly as the brush of fur.  Which was a bit strange given he usually kept his true thoughts rather guarded.  The protectiveness and concern was welcome though, even if Jeremy was pretty certain he would brush it off if Jeremy brought it up.  He smiled slightly.

He should probably move, do something to alert the demon that he was okay now.  He should, he was going to.  Soon, he would soon.  

He was pretty sure Bobo would put him down once he knew he was okay and things were so nice and calm and safe and he didn’t want to give that up yet.  He listened, trying to figure out where they were without opening his eyes.  Based on the sound of the footsteps Jeremy guessed somewhere in the woods.  He could distantly make out the sound of birdsong.

He stayed like that for a bit, just listening, feeling calmer than he had in a long time.  But he’d never been good at shutting up, and his shoulder was getting stiff.  

Jeremy shifted in the demon’s arms, blinking his eyes open.  They had that annoying grainy feel and he had to blink a few times before his vision focused properly.  By the time it did Bobo had stopped walking, and Jeremy was met with blue eyes watching him intently.  

He’d meant to say something like thank you, or maybe an explanation, but instead found himself saying what had been at the back of his mind for a while.

“I’m sorry I shot you.”


	7. Call

Bobo’s eyes narrowed as a ringtone cut through the silence of the forest, Jeremy scrambling to retrieve his phone from his pocket.  The demon circled around him, grabbing it just after the kid had accepted the call and raising the rectangular electronic to his ear.  

Jeremy let out an indignant noise, trying to stand up and follow him.  A firm hand on his shoulder kept him in place as Waverly’s voice came across the connection.

“Jeremy!  Where are you; I came back to your apartment and you weren’t here.  What happened, are you okay?”

“Easy there Angel, Jeremy is fine.”  Turning, Bobo looked pointedly at him as he released his hold on Jeremy’s shoulder, mouthing ‘Stay’ before walking a distance away.

“Bobo?”  A beat of silence.  “What happened?  Where are you two?”

“In the woods.  Junior wasn’t doing so hot when he showed up, so I got him somewhere quiet.”  He glanced back.  Jeremy was watching him from where he was perched on a rock.  Probably trying to figure out the conversation from his half.

“But he’s okay now?”  Waverly confirmed.

“For the time being.”

“Can you bring him back?”  A soft growl escaped the demon, voice dropping slightly when he replied.

“You did not see him.  Bringing him back into town is the last thing he needs right now.”

“That bad?  Okay, look, bring him to the homestead?  He was doing fine there.  I can grab some stuff from his apartment and meet you there.  And when you get here you are going to explain properly what happened!”  Bobo shut his eyes taking a grounding breath.

Exhaling softly, he replied, “As my angel wishes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I always struggle with dialogue, but I think I got this bit somewhere I’m happy with.


	8. Into Hiding

It was all falling apart now.  Black badge was coming after him.  

A contact Dolls still had inside had given them a heads up.  The same contact that had helped them break him out in the first place.  God, he’d known Black Badge wasn’t just going to let them take him.  He’d known it wasn’t over yet, that something bad was going to happen.  His hands were shaking and he held onto to the strap of his backpack to try and calm the tremors.

“Give me your phone Jeremy; they might use it to track you.”  He reluctantly handed it over to Dolls, heartbeat racing in his ears.

“Oh they will, which actually, we could use that.  If one of you take it out somewhere, they’d at least investigate the lead to see if it’s real.”   He grinned nervously, fidgeting with the end of the backpack strap.

“Smart idea.  Doc, you take the phone out of the triangle, ditch it somewhere that could pass for a good place to hide out.”  Dolls handed it off to him.

“Guess I’m never getting that back,” Jeremy muttered.  “And I’d just gotten to a new level on, nevermind, it’s fine.”  The swirl of everyone’s emotions around him only heightened his own anxiety, and he needed to shut up.  

They didn’t exactly have a plan, and they had 2 hours tops before black badge got here.  His thoughts were tumbling around his mind chaotically, and while he knew getting him away from the rest of the group was key, that didn’t make him any less worried about what would happen when Black Badge showed up.

“Guys, I don’t know if this is a good idea.  Black Badge is…. y’know, they can be a bit uh kill first ask questions later sometimes.  And um, you’re not exactly immortal anymore Doc.  I appreciate what everyone is trying to do, just I don’t want anyone getting hurt because of me.”

“You’ve done the sacrifice play before Junior; I’m not about to let it happen again,” Bobo interjected, fixing him with a pointed look.  

Jeremy dropped his gaze, a bit of guilt rising in him.

“Ya, okay, that’s fair.  That mayyyy not have gone well last time.”

“That is the understatement of the century, and as someone who has lived for over a century I am allowed to say that.”

“If you two are quite done,” Doc cut in, “I have a false lead to create.”  Doc tipped his hat, patting Jeremy’s shoulder as he made his way to the door.

He glanced to the side when he felt a hand squeeze his arm.  “We’re going to figure this out Jeremy,” Waverly reassured.  “We can handle this, but you have to let us help you.”  He gave a weak nod.

“Right, yes.  Letting you help.  I can totally do that.”  Waverly smiled, wrapping him in a quick hug.

“Bobo, get him out of here; get him somewhere safe,” Wynonna said, glancing over at him and Waverly.  It made sense; Black Badge didn’t know he was working with them, and he knew the triangle better than any of them.  

“Stay safe, you hear me Algebra?”

“As safe as any of us ever are, right?” He said, grinning shakily.  Bobo started steering him outside by the elbow and Jeremy sought out the demon’s hand, the touch grounding him.  He might be gripping just a bit too hard, but Bobo didn’t say anything about it, instead taking advantage of their linked hands to quicken their pace.

“Is this really going to work?”  Jeremy asked nervously.  The silence in the cool outdoor air was making his anxiety rise, even as the tense emotions of everyone else got more distant.  He needed to talk, ramble, fill the quiet.  Maybe then he could ignore just how terrified he actually felt right now.  

“I mean,  uh I trust you guys, really, but Black Badge.  They don’t just-”  He swallowed, trying to stay calm.  “They don’t just give up a target, not when they really-”  He breathed out.  Keep it together Jeremy, keep it together.

“I know how badly they want my what they call remote viewing abilities.  I could sense it in there.”

“That is not going to happen,” Bobo said, voice low and dangerous.  It didn’t do anything to calm his anxiety.

“Ya, um, so I really want to believe that.  But, I may be panicking just a little, and just- just the thought of going back there is making it harder to breathe.”

“Now you have every reason to be afraid right now; I won’t deny that.  I’ve traded enough in fear to know a thing or two about it, and under the right circumstances it can be helpful or smart, but panicking now ain’t going to help keep you alive.”

“Umm, so ya, quick tip, when someone is panicking saying it’s not helping is like, one of the least helpful things you can do,” he shot back, voice a bit more biting than he’d intended.

“We have to keep moving Jeremy.”  

“I know, just, do we actually know where we’re going?  Or are we just running?”

“I have a place, very few people alive know about it.”

* * *

Jeremy had no clue where they were.  He wasn’t sure how long they’d been walking, but it was long enough that the anxious energy had mostly faded and now he just wanted to rest.  At least asleep he wouldn’t have to think about the mess that was his life right now.

There was a sense of sadness rising, and it took Jeremy a moment to realize it wasn’t his own.  The emotions were tangled and hard for him to sort out as he looked at the demon.  His face didn’t give anything away, but that was nothing new.

“We’re almost there,” Bobo said, breaking the silence that had been between them for a while now.  The trees around them were thinning out, opening into a large clearing.

Jeremy’s gaze was drawn toward the large tree in the clearing, things clicking into place.

“It’s a treehouse?”  He murmured, the comment more to himself.


	9. The Treehouse

Jeremy felt blank.  He knew he should feel something, but he’d just passed a point and it all took too much energy and he was so tired.  

He tried to focus on his heartbeat.  It wasn’t racing; if he hadn’t been focusing he would hardly have noticed his chest at all.  

It was strange, and he knew that this disconnected state didn’t mean anything good.  It probably wasn’t a healthy way to cope with everything that was happening.  He couldn’t find the will to care right now though.  
  
The moment they’d made it into the treehouse Jeremy had slumped down into a clear corner.  Dust heavily coated most of the things there, and he watched blankly as Bobo set about trying to get everything into some sort of order, not truly taking in much of what he was seeing.  
  
Someone had clearly lived here at some point, even if it had been a long time ago now, he could tell that much.  

As his own emotions muted down to a broken and disconnected background hum, the complicated tangle of the revenant’s rose in clarity, filling his mind as intensely as if they belonged to him.  He didn’t understand them, but the carefully hidden sadness at the setting couldn’t be clearer.  There was so much history, the feelings intense, even as Bobo pushed them down, hiding them from normal people and focusing himself on the task at hand.  
  
Jeremy rested his chin on his knees, letting the emotions coat his senses, beating back his own distant numbness.  There was something easier about focusing on someone else’s thoughts right now; he didn’t want to have to think about his own.

* * *

The silence set Bobo on edge as he moved about the treehouse.   Jeremy was always talking, whether out of nerves or excitement.  The quiet felt wrong, just like everything else about this situation.  He let his gaze flick over to the kid, who had curled in on himself when they got into the treehouse.    
  
Jeremy’s gaze seemed distant, even as he tracked Bobo’s movement around the small space.  Not the best sign, but he’d deal with that in a bit.  Shutting his eyes for a moment to ground himself, he set his focus on righting as much of the furniture as was still salvageable.  If Jeremy was going to stay here a while there would have to be a fair amount of work to make the treehouse livable again.  

He tried to ignore all the memories that threatened to rise at being back here, pushing them to the back of his mind.  This wasn’t like before.  
  
Even after the handful of activity the place had seen not so long ago, there was still a heavy coating of dust that floated in the wake of his movements, glinting slightly in the light.  It looked a bit magical, something that fit neither the situation or location.  
  
His lips curled in distaste, eyes narrowing as he watched it for a moment.

Breaking his gaze away, he moved to the window, opening it to let some air circulate through.  The chill snuck in with it, and he glanced in the kid’s direction, noting the way he shivered in response, hiding the lower half of his face against his knees.

Jeremy wasn’t exactly dressed for the weather.  There hadn’t been a lot of time for them to grab many things before leaving, and his sweater was probably doing very little for him.  
  
Bobo let out a soft huff, making his way back toward him.  The kid jumped when he dropped his fur coat around his shoulders, causing a flicker of amusement to cross the demon’s face.  Jeremy looked very small covered by the large coat, but something in his expression seemed to relax.

“Don’t need you freezing,” the demon said.  They’d have to set up a fire, but one thing at a time.


	10. Concerns

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The talk that really didn’t want to happen.

Bobo was stalling; and he was pretty sure Jeremy had started to pick up on it.  Breathing in slowly, he glanced over at the kid.  The same kid that had shot him in order to hand himself in before.  

He couldn’t tell for sure whether he was a flight risk, but the revenant couldn’t stay with him 24/7.  Especially with how much work the treehouse needed at the moment.

“Right, Junior.”  Bobo rapped the wall next to Jeremy’s head.  "We need to get some things sorted.“

“Right, ya,”  Jeremy said, gaze not shifting from the part of the wall he’d been staring at.  Then a beat later.  “Wait, sorry, what are we sorting?”  His eyebrows knit together as he looked searchingly up at the demon.  There wasn’t any sort of uncertain smile on his face; the kid just looked tired.

“I need to go get more stuff for the treehouse,” the revenant explained.  “But I need to know you’re not gonna go anywhere.”  The demon pointed at Jeremy to emphasize the words, head tilting slightly to the side as he gauged his response.  

“ ‘Cause last time we dealt with Black Badge you went pretty far to let them take you.”

Jeremy’s jaw tensed, gaze dropping away from Bobo.  Silence hung between them for a long moment as he seemed to search for words, expression clouded.

“Trust me, after-”  he swallowed, shaking his head.  “I’m not-  look, I’m not going back there ever.  I’d rather-”  His jaw clicked shut as he stopped himself before he said what Bobo thought he’d been about to say.  Taking a shaky breath, Jeremy threw out his hands, saying more firmly, “I’m not going to leave okay?”  He raised his gaze back to Bobo, but the weak attempt at a smile didn’t reach the kid’s eyes.

If anything his words only made the revenant more worried; but he didn’t think the kid was lying.

“Okay, I believe you Junior.”  Bobo squeezed the kids shoulder, straightening up.  Jeremy’s expression didn’t relax much.  There was a lot of work to do, and not just in regards to the treehouse.


	11. Alone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve actually had this piece written for a fairly long time now, but I had to get the last scene written first. Jeremy is really not coping well with everything.

The lack of any mental contact was surprisingly jarring, and it made a sense of emptiness rise inside him.  He hadn’t been truly alone with his thoughts since they’d put that machine on his head and now the anxiety and fear were only rising to fill the emptiness.  
  
What if Black Badge hurt or took the others.  What if they took Dolls again?  What if Jeremy wasn’t ever able to go back; what if he couldn’t without Black Badge finding him?  His mind chased itself in circles, a cold sense of hopelessness filling him.  
  
Jeremy wrapped his arms around himself, hoping the pressure would bring some sense of comfort as he felt tears well up in his eyes.  His vision blurred as he tried to blink them away, feeling one streak down his cheek.  

He didn’t want to be afraid anymore.  He hated that he didn’t have any control of his own life.  His head fell forward against his knees, a sob wracking his frame.

He wanted Bobo to come back.  Being alone with his thoughts just reminded him of when Black Badge had first taken him, alone with no control.  Except he’d had so much more hope then.

* * *

Eventually Jeremy calmed down somewhat, slowly uncurling from the tight ball he’d made himself into.  He knew he should move, do something to occupy his mind, anything.  

He didn’t move.  His gaze drifted about the space, slowly taking everything in.  

Except nothing was really registering.  He couldn’t make himself focus, because everything was wrong wrong wrong.  He needed to do something, he needed-  He squeezed his eyes shut.  Just move, it’s not that hard, just do it.  Move.  

Move.

He drew in a deep breath.

He felt so drained, done just so done.  That was bad, he knew that, he knew that.  He didn’t know for sure what it meant but he knew it was bad, jaw tensing as he tried to will himself to do something, anything.  

His hand flexed against the wooden boards of the floor as the unfocused frustration rose in him.  He repeated the movement, clenching and unclenching his hand against the floor.  

He wanted to punch something, a flash of action in his mind’s eye.  Because maybe then he wouldn’t feel so helpless.


	12. Trying

Bobo wasn’t entirely sure what he’d come back to.  Jeremy had barely been left alone since being broken out of Black Badge.  Last time he’d been properly left alone he’d wandered off and all but fainted.

The revenant didn’t need psychic powers to tell the kid was shutting down.  The stress of the situation was destroying him, and if they didn’t handle this carefully they could still lose him, even if they won against Black Badge.

He wasn’t the right person for this situation; he wasn’t good at this sort of thing.  The revenant knew that; but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to try.

* * *

Bobo took a steadying breath before re-entering the treehouse.  There was a flash of movement from Jeremy as the door opened; the kid flinched back slightly, eyes wary for a moment before he settled again.  

“Hey,” he said softly, voice a bit rough.  

Bobo noticed the redness around his eyes, only having a few moments to piece together Jeremy had been crying before his gaze was dropping back toward the floor.  The revenant let his gaze scan over the room, but nothing was different except Jeremy.

  
The kid was sitting slumped against the tree trunk that grew through the middle of the room.  He looked utterly exhausted, hands curled against the floor.  
  
“You look like Hell,” the revenant said dryly, hoping the bluntness would be received well.  It wasn’t an exaggeration.

Luckily Jeremy’s lips twitched upward slightly, probably at the irony of that statement coming from a demon. His eyes slid closed for a moment as he leaned his head back against the bark of the tree.

Bobo took the moment to enter the room properly, setting down the bag of supplies he’d brought inside.  He almost missed the next words the kid said. They were more under Jeremy’s breath.

“You have no idea how glad I am to see you.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhh, it has been too long, I finally got this section to cooperate!


	13. Protector

Bobo leaned against the windowsill, gaze drifting over the treehouse.

Jeremy was curled up on the air mattress the revenant had retrieved. His forehead was crinkled sightly, even now he was asleep.

Bobo wondered if he was having bad dreams. The kid had the blanket wrapped tightly around him, his nose peeking out over the top edge. The revenant still didn’t know much about what had happened at Black Badge, but just the effects he could see from it made a dark fury rise inside him.

They weren’t going to get anywhere near him again if Bobo could help it. The kid deserved better than all this.


	14. Touch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s the scene I’ve been thinking about since December!!

Jeremy didn’t notice it at first.  In the midst of making the treehouse livable again it wasn’t a big thing.  Until Jeremy realized it was a big thing  _to him._

It had been around a week they’d been here, Bobo coming and going as needed.  And even as clearly as Jeremy could feel the concern and protectiveness, he could also feel the caution the revenant was conducting himself with.  And frankly, he’d had enough.

“Would you stop tiptoeing around me?“  Jeremy said, mouth curled into an uncharacteristic grimace.  An anxious edge colored his voice as his eyes focused somewhere in the space over Bobo’s shoulder.  
  
He was perched on the bed they’d set up in the treehouse, body drawn in as his hands fidgeted with the hem of his sleeve.  
  
The revenant arched an eyebrow in response.  
  
Jeremy released a frustrated breath.  "Just, you don’t do personal space.  Don’t think I don’t know that.  I wasn’t….  gone long enough to forget that.” His face was taking on a more pink hue but he pressed on.  

“Look, you never used to think twice before resting your chin on my shoulder or- or getting into my personal bubble and, I get that you’re trying to help or whatever but, please don’t.  There’s… uh, there’s this thing called touch starvation?  And so, BBD-”  
  
Jeremy trailed off, a pained expression crossing his face for a moment as his mind wandered back.  

“When I was at BBD I was alone okay?  If they weren’t testing me I was alone in that stupid cell and the only time people touched me was to wrangle me into that stupid machine and I just-”  
  
His voice broke, words that had been growing ever faster falling away as he trembled.  
  
“I need someone to touch me that doesn’t want to hurt me.”  Jeremy’s gaze was downcast, anxiety and stress festering inside of him.  He’d half expected Bobo to interrupt him partway through.  

Instead he heard a soft exhale, then footsteps approaching him.

“Y’know, Junior…”  A pause as the revenant sat down next to him on the bed.  “You could have just asked.”  Jeremy felt an arm loop around his midriff, gently tilting him back against Bobo’s chest.  The demon settled his chin on his shoulder.

Jeremy let out a shaky breath, a profound wave of relief washing over him.  The contact gave him a sense of safety; maybe that was silly, but Jeremy really didn’t care.  There was just something very reassuring about the warm weight of Bobo’s body around him.  

He twisted slightly to curl closer against the revenant, posture relaxing from the closed and guarded way he’d been holding himself before.

* * *

Jeremy had fallen asleep a while ago, a warm weight against Bobo’s chest.  The level of trust it indicated was something the revenant was still trying to wrap his head around.  He could make out the shift in expression, even in the lowlight of evening, as he looked down at the kid curled against him.  

The edge of tension Bobo had gotten used to in Jeremy’s expression was gone, fading along with his consciousness.  

Bobo hadn’t seen Jeremy this calm since before he’d been taken by Black Badge, and he wasn’t about to move and disturb him.  He knew that if he tried to get up the kid would probably startle awake, and after everything he deserved the rest.

One of Jeremy’s hands was resting on the arm of his coat.  For a while he’d been clinging to the fur like his life depended on it.  The revenant absently tightened his grip on Jeremy as he remembered the kid’s life pretty much did depend on him right now.  It was his responsibility to keep him safe.

They were all in way over their heads with this.


	15. Responsibility

This was so far from last time that he didn’t know where to start.  Last time. He couldn’t fight the way his mind made parallels to when he’d first brought Willa here, no matter how much the memories hurt.

This was different.  This wasn’t going to be permanent.

And where Willa was defiant, Jeremy was lethargic.  He was too still, or too energetic. And there wasn’t an in between.  Either the kid was pacing anxiously about, looking for anything to occupy his mind, rambling a mile a minute.  Or Bobo had to drag him out from the blanket he wrapped himself in so he didn’t spend all of his time there.

It was worse now that the place had really started to be livable again.  When they’d been busy Jeremy had had something useful to focus on. They both had.

And now Bobo was starting to realize how unprepared he was for this.  
  
He understood that everything Jeremy had gone through was traumatic, but having to play care taker was something he was neither good at or experienced at.  Not like this. Not when he didn’t even fully understand what Black Badge had done.

  
And Jeremy sitting silent and still on the bed was a far cry from his usual behavior.  It unsettled the revenant greatly, and he certainly didn’t know what to do about it.

He had to push back his kneejerk reaction to draw away or snap when Jeremy wouldn’t respond to him.  And Jeremy’s abilities had to mean he knew that.  
  
He could just leave him alone, but that might make the kid feel worse if their earlier conversation was anything to go by.  Since then he’d taken to holding Jeremy until he fell asleep, or the kid just wouldn’t sleep until he ran down completely.  If nothing else it seemed to reduce the amount of nightmares Jeremy had.  
  
Yet there was still part of him wanted to back off and just let the kid deal with it.  It wasn’t his responsibility to fix him. Except for the fact it kind of was. Jeremy was his responsibility, and keeping him safe meant a lot more than just keeping him alive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bobo’s having a fair amount of internal conflict and frustrations as he tries to get a handle on the situation. I seem to find myself writing from his POV more and more as well.


	16. Nightmares

_Dark.  It was so dark.  No no no. He couldn’t be back here, he wasn’t, he couldn’t, not again._

_Flickers, glimpses, moments.  Something was very wrong. He didn’t know what he was seeing._

_It was- Jeremy didn’t have words to describe what this was.  The rush of too much too much swirling inside his mind. The distant feeling of cold metal around his head, a sharp pain shooting in from his right temple.  The world was too bright._

_Emotions, they were everywhere.  This was going to work, this had to work.  No that wasn’t his thought? And god the screaming.  No, that was him. Right? He couldn’t-_

_The influx of thoughts, chaotic and disjointed.  Most of them were from the other people at BBD. They had to be.  Because everything hurt too much for him to think properly. His hands jerked in their restraints, itching to claw the awful contraption off his head._

_Make it stop, make it stop please please PLEASE_

_It sounded like someone was trying to talk to him, but he couldn’t make out the words._

_Images swam across his eyes, warping and wrong and he was falling he was-_

Jeremy jolted awake, hands flailing out as a choked gasp tumbled past his lips.  Phantom pain still lingered in his skull.

The floor rushed at him, but as he flinched for impact he felt arms latch around his midriff, hauling him back up.

He twisted, trying to claw himself free.  He couldn’t do this he couldn’t-

“Stop, Jeremy, hey!”

His wide brown eyes snapped toward the voice, breathing panicked as his gaze caught an alarmed pair of blue eyes.  Clarity hit Jeremy, but his rapid breathing didn’t want to listen, body going deathly still as he stared back at the demon.

Bobo’s controlled mask wasn’t holding very well, a whole array of emotions seeming to play across his features.  Or maybe that was his powers playing up?

“Breathe, Junior you need to breathe.”  It felt worryingly distant as the revenant grabbed his hand to rest on his chest.

His head felt light, forehead hot, body too cold.  He drew in a short breath, still too fast. Not at all like the slow movement beneath his palm.  Even the small inhale reminded him of the phantom pain twinging through his skull.

His expression tightened, eyes squeezing closed.  Bobo’s voice was a vague thing. He found the words more distant with his eyes closed, even as he tried to follow the breathing.

The emotion was stronger around him, vivid and confusing.   Had it been like this at BBD? It had always been so many people, he hadn’t been able to see.  The different feelings had almost their own color, or, well, sort of. The panic, held tightly inside the revenant, was like pulsing embers, concern a fluctuating thing cooler in tone, more like deep purple flames.  The false calm, a thing for Jeremy to latch onto, blue and cool, wrapping around him like water.

His mind reached for that emotion, he didn’t really understand it, but it seemed to soothe his panic, instilling calm onto him by extension.

And he breathed, still fast as first, but slowly settling down into a matching rhythm.  As he breathed, his powers settled, focused solely on one other person. A thought he wasn’t supposed to hear rang as clearly in his mind as if it had been spoken aloud.

“What the hell did BBD do to you?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, it’s been a long time since I updated! Ahem, I’ve been trying to get a piece written that includes Nicole, but it’s… slow going. So here’s a bit more insight into Jeremy’s powers?


	17. Guilt

Dolls scowled as he sat in the empty HQ, gaze drifting to Jeremy's vacant desk. All his equipment was still there, a small pokemon plush sitting on one edge. He drew in a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment. A frigid anger was sitting heavy in his chest.

This shouldn't have happened. He'd tried so hard to not let this happen. He knew better than most how Black Badge could use someone. So many people casualties of experiments that hadn't been stable.

He thought when Black Badge had packed up from the area, maybe both of them would finally be out from under the organization's thumb. He should have known better. You don't just get away from Black Badge.

But Jeremy, with his powers, was the first to realize they'd come back. And he'd known the team couldn't afford Black Badge interference at the time. He'd given himself over to buy them time to sort out the threat they'd already been dealing with, free of BBD. His hands curled at his sides.

Really they should have noticed him acting strange, slipping away. But tensions had been high, and you missed things under stress. If Bobo hadn't followed Jeremy, Dolls wondered if they would have even had any lead about where he'd disappeared to. He didn't even like entertaining the thought.

Jeremy had never been a great liar, though Dolls sometimes wondered whether he only wanted people to think that. He was deceptively good at deflecting conversation away from himself. Jeremy never spoke about his powers, and if not for the file on his mother Dolls might not even know as much he did.

When he'd freed a traumatized child from a car wreck 12 years ago he hadn't expected Black Badge to take an interest in the kid. But then he'd barely been an adult himself at the time. He knew better now. Why he'd been sent that way in the first place. It wasn't a coincidence.

BBD had been tracking Jeremy's mother, but with her dead... They took what they could get. He'd clung just as tightly to him back then as he had when they'd carried him from Black Badge a few weeks prior.

A few weeks. It had taken them just as long to find him, too long.


	18. A Friendly Visit

Nicole leaned against the tree, scanning the horizon for the revenant she was meeting.  Her backpack felt heavy, filled with a mix of things everyone had suggested might make Jeremy feel more at home.  It was a strange jumble of items from his apartment, his lab, and well intentioned gifts from the team. Some of them more practical than others.  A small smile crossed her face as she recalled one of the interactions.

_"Okay, but you have to take these, c'mon," she could hear Waverly saying, waving a s'mores kit, complete with vegetarian marshmallows in front of her girlfriends face.  "He's never been camping and now seems like a good time for him to try them, maybe it'll make him smile."_

Nicole shook her head in amusement at the memory.  She doubted that was even remotely on his mind, but it might be a good distraction.  She hadn't seen Jeremy for long after they'd gotten him back from BBD, but she could tell he had a lot of trauma he was going to have to work through from the experience.  Sounded about right for someone on Team Earp, she thought ruefully. She wasn’t sure how equipped Bobo was to handle that. Sure he’d been through plenty himself, but taking care of someone else...

"Miss Haught."  The low voice broke her out of her thoughts, and she turned her head sharply, catching sight of Bobo in the shadow of the trees.  She straightened instinctively, still defaulting to defensive around him.

“Bobo,” she greeted.  He looked tired, something she could spot despite his ability to keep his emotions well hidden.

A tense silence hung in the air between them for a long moment.  Then she gestured with her head back at the backpack.

“I brought some things for Jeremy.  Is he…” she paused, before settling for, “Doing any better?”

He fixed her with a wry look, before sighing.  “Not really.” He turned before she could question him, saying, “Maybe you’ll be able to make some conclusions of your own.  You’ll be seeing him soon enough.” He started back into the trees, not bothering to glance behind him to see if Nicole was following.

She let out a frustrated breath, pushing away from the tree and heading after him.  She was a bit surprised when he spoke again.

“I’ve found a way to get him to sleep.  Kid has a lot of nightmares, but it seems to be helping.”

That was more progress than she’d been expecting, but she bit her tongue before she could say anything along those lines.  

“That’s something at least.”  She decided not to press him for the details.  That was likely to only make him close off, which wouldn’t help the situation.

As they continued walking, she felt a dawning realization of where exactly he’d hidden Jeremy.

“This is Swan Reservoir isn’t it?”

The revenant stiffened, a low growl rumbling in his chest at the reminder of all the implications that held.

“It is.”  The words were short and clipped, warning her not to comment further.  Not to mention Willa.

“Well, it’s certainly not going to be a place people think to look,” she offered, trying to keep the peace with a neutral response.  The only people that knew where the treehouse was besides Waverly were dead. If Bobo could keep someone hidden here for years, well,  hopefully it would be able to keep Jeremy off the radar until they figured out how to defuse this situation with BBD.

The revenant eyed her, searching her face for… something.  Maybe judgement, suspicion? Well, he wasn’t the only one who could keep a poker face.  Whatever he was looking for, he let it go, and led the way out into the clearing.

The treehouse stood out starkly against the pale grey sky.  Nicole found herself wondering just how old the structure was.  Had Bobo had it before Willa?

She brushed away the thoughts, watching as the revenant called down the ladder, a mix of rope and metal, from where it was rolled at the top of the tree.  It unfurled in a smooth motion to meet them.

“Ladies first,” he gestured to the rope.

Nicole tried to hide the roll of her eyes, but the smirk on his face made it clear he’d noticed anyway.

“You think you’re such a gentleman for a demon don’t you?” She quipped at him, starting up.

“Sticks and stones,” was the soft reply, tinged with an undercurrent of amusement.

She decided to pretend she hadn’t heard him, making her way up onto the small porch of sorts that the ladder let them off on.  Bobo followed shortly behind. His gaze was measured once more, flicking to her before he opened the door.

She took in the small square room, the natural light filtering in through the thin curtains to illuminate the space.  It was still sparse, but her gaze was drawn to the back right corner, where a bed had been set up.

Jeremy was perched on it, trying to hide the startled, ‘deer in the headlights’ look he had.  His gaze had shot to the door the moment it opened. He had a blanket around his shoulders, which Nicole wasn’t sure whether to liken to a cocoon or a cape.

“Jeremy, hey,” The soft cheer sounded false even to her ears, overly cautious.  If she’d thought Bobo looked tired, Jeremy looked ten times worse.

She stepped into the room, noticing a wave of warmth chase away the chill from outside.  A cursory glance revealed a small wood burning stove tucked into the corner behind the door, which doubled as a heater for the space.

“Hey Nicole.”  The smile was wan, but the way he seemed to brighten nonetheless was genuine.  It was subdued compared to Jeremy’s normal energy, but given everything she’d take what small victories she could find.

The door clicked shut softly, Bobo slipping past her.  His fur coat brushed softly against her.

Nicole watched in surprise as Bobo casually trailed a hand along Jeremy’s shoulder as he went past.  This sort of action from Bobo in itself wasn’t surprising; he’d never been much for personal space. No, what was surprising was the way Jeremy leaned into the touch, a relief flitting across his face.

Before all this, even if they’d gotten along well enough, Jeremy had a tendency to startle or get flustered when Bobo got in his space.

She filed the information away, walking over to sit next to Jeremy on the bed, gently knocking their shoulders together.

“We miss you back in Purgatory Jer.”  She shrugged the backpack off her shoulder, inclining her head.  “Everybody sent gifts for you. You know, to make this feel more like… your own space.”  She wasn’t going to call this place a home, that made everything seem too permanent.

His hands appeared from the folds of the blanket to take the offered bag and she smiled, watching him begin to look through the items.  An assortment of books from Waverly, turned carefully over in his hands, fingers trailing over them appreciatively. Some of his comics that Doc had gathered up, carefully tied together in a bundle.  Wynonna had sent along some of his favorite snacks, along with a small postcard with the ‘hang in there’ cat on it. That elicited a huff of laughter from Jeremy.

Nicole’s gaze softened, glad that everything seemed to be helping a little bit.  He drew out the rainbow scarf from her, which ended in little pockets.

“Solidarity.”  There was a smile in his tone as his gaze flitted over to hers, drawing a soft laugh out of her.

Emotion filled Jeremy’s face as he pulled loose the final item, a small pokemon plushie with a gameboy and some old game cartridges nestled in its grasp.  “Dolls…”

“He found the game at your apartment; since it’s so old there’s no way for BBD to track it, and it runs on batteries, so you should be able to use it out here.”  She tried not to be too obvious as she watched him hug the plush against his chest with one arm, resting his chin on top of the soft material.

“How is everyone?  BBD hasn’t…” he hesitated, not wanting to voice any of his fears.

“You know Wynonna, she was swearing at the agents that dared suggest we knew where you were.”  It hadn’t been anywhere near that simple, but she didn’t want to burden Jeremy with too many details and make him feel worse.

“Everyone’s fine.  Seems like there’s still an agent hanging around in town trying to get a lead on you, but we’re not gonna let that happen.”

Jeremy’s gaze dropped to the blanket, fidgeting with the scarf still draped across the bed.  There was a pause that hung in the air, punctuated by the quiet sound of Bobo doing something elsewhere in the room.

“Why don’t you tell me about how you got this place set up,” she prompted, leading him to lift his gaze and glance around the room.  As far as she’d heard from Waverly it was in disrepair when she’d come here.

It was a bit strange to her how Bobo melted into the background as they talked.   His presence was usually something that demanded attention. Yet here the natural tones of his coat blended with the wood, and he didn’t try to interrupt the two.

He fell to the back of her mind as Jeremy talked, hesitantly at first, but getting more animated as he continued.  He’d settled so he was leaning against her side, apparently drawing comfort from the casual contact.

She was sure he was glossing over some of the details of everything, but she didn’t want to push him.  He looked more like his usual self than she’d seen since he’d gotten away from BBD. And so she let him ramble, interjecting where she needed to.  It was casual, normal, or as normal as you could get when you were in a one room treehouse off the grid. He needed this sort of normalcy.

During one of the lulls in the conversation Bobo came over, wordlessly pressing a mug of tea into Jeremy’s hands.  The action was surprisingly domestic, and Nicole had to wonder at just how well any of them really knew the demon that had somehow found a place in their team.

Jeremy nestled down toward the warm steam rising from the mug, shooting a look of thanks to Bobo.  The revenant smiled back at him, expression softer than the grins that usually crossed his face. He retreated for a moment before coming back and holding a mug of tea out to her as well.  

She accepted it, murmuring a soft thanks.  The warmth of the sides was pleasant against her hands.

“What kind is it?”  She asked, glancing down at the mug.

“It’s a personal blend of earl gray,” he replied, settling onto the other side of Jeremy.  He was careful not to jostle him as he draped an arm around his shoulders, drawing him against his side.

Nicole’s eyebrows raised a bit at the action, Jeremy’s gaze flitting uncertainly between them for a moment.  She offered a gentle smile, taking a sip of her tea. There seemed to be hints of vanilla and something else, lavender maybe, in it.

At her smile, he seemed to relax, and she realized that his flustered response had less to do with Bobo and more to do with how he thought she might take the action.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've had a document for this chapter since August 27th and it's taken me until now to get it into working order. Also, the tea is based on one I get at the cafe I write at. I was originally gonna include more in this chapter, but I decided to split it.


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